I don't see why it being a shortening of Gaviotas makes it 1 v. It's a question of whether it's a hard or soft a. Hard a, 1 v. Soft a, 2 vs. You don't typically write a guy's nickname as Mat because his name is Mathew or Mathieu. And Stephen shortens to Steve, not Stephe.

While playing in California, Cravath reportedly picked up his nickname of "Gavvy" by hitting a ball that killed a seagull ("gaviota" in Spanish) in flight. The reporters spelled the nickname "Gavvy" to emphasize that it rhymes with "savvy," but Cravath himself spelled it "Gavy."

I'll go with the theory that whatever the guy himself does is right. Makes sense to me. But not because Bill James or anyone else not named Gavy (or Gavvy) Cravath says so. And my pronunciation theory was right.

While playing in California, Cravath reportedly picked up his nickname of "Gavvy" by hitting a ball that killed a seagull ("gaviota" in Spanish) in flight. The reporters spelled the nickname "Gavvy" to emphasize that it rhymes with "savvy," but Cravath himself spelled it "Gavy."

I'll go with the theory that whatever the guy himself does is right. Makes sense to me. But not because Bill James or anyone else not named Gavy (or Gavvy) Cravath says so. And my pronunciation theory was right.